"Next week, Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz will square off in a debate on CNN over the future of the Affordable Care Act. There will be a lot of chatter about how Sanders was critical of the ACA during last year’s Dem primary.

But Sanders is a very effective advocate for the law, despite his belief that it didn’t go far enough. And this may have the salutary effect of increasing engagement on the part of the left — and Sanders supporters — in the fight to save Obamacare."

From The Hill:

"Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will go to battle next week in a debate over the future of ObamaCare.

Sanders and Cruz, who both ran for their party's nomination in the 2016 presidential race, will square off in a debate airing on CNN next Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 9 p.m.

The debate will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. The debate comes as Republicans in Congress craft a plan to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

A promo for the debate aired during CNN's town hall with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and news quickly spread on social media."

The newly designated Gold Butte National Monument is within hollering distance of the Bundy Ranch in NV, current HQ of Vanilla Isis, Y'all Qaeda, and Cletus Nation.

From KGW Portland:

After years of publicly opposing federal land management policy, Cliven Bundy will now be able to see a 300,000 acre national monument from his ranch in Nevada.

On Wednesday, Obama designated two national monuments. The Bears Ears National Monument covers 1.35 million acres in Utah. The second is Gold Butte National Monument; 300,000 acres near Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bundy has allegedly allowed his cattle to graze on the Gold Butte land without paying grazing fees. In 2014, he led a standoff against U.S. agents. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Bundy has claimed ancestral rights to the Gold Butte land.

<snip>

Two of Bundy’s sons, Ammon and Ryan, led a standoff in Oregon at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that lasted for more than a month in early 2016. The brothers were acquitted on federal charges in that standoff but still face charges in the Nevada case.

Some environmental groups and businesses have advocated for a national monument in Eastern Oregon, near where the occupation took place. The proposed Owyhee Canyonlands national monument covers more than 2 million acres in Eastern Oregon and includes land ranchers currently use to graze cattle.

After all, the only problem that he could find with the Klan was that they smoked dope.

Does anyone else see him sending in the government jack-booted thugs to kick in the doors of the dispensaries in order to enforce existing federal law? If he does, I envision the rapid "states-rights" backlash of the people in places like WA, OR, CO, CA, NV, etc. where cannabis has become a large component within the social economy. Would that increase support for a wider Calexit movement? Would that be justified? Or would even a GOP congress realize it was time to end federal prohibition on one of the most beneficial plant species known to humankind?

And does anyone else think it would be deliciously ironic if a sap named to honor Jefferson Davis set in motion a new secessionist movement in blue (sane) America.

Defeated Republican congressional candidate Danny Tarkanian has filed a defamation lawsuit against his opponent, Democrat Jacky Rosen, concerning ads that aired toward the end of the campaign. The lawsuit, which also names Rosen’s campaign as a defendant, was filed today in Clark County District Court.

Tarkanian, who was running in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, is seeking damages worth more than $8 million as well as reimbursement for attorney’s fees.

The lawsuit alleges that Rosen and her campaign produced and disseminated an ad to television outlets, YouTube and Facebook that contained false and defamatory statements that accused Tarkanian of setting up “13 fake charities that preyed on vulnerable seniors” as part of a telemarketing scheme.

Tarkanian, son of the late UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, has said he was not aware of any illegal activity when helped set up the companies and wasn’t involved in their day-to-day activities. In 2009, he received a $150,000 defamation settlement from then-state Sen. Mike Schneider, a Democrat, who tried to tie him to the schemes.